Voice of Experience: Mary Beth Bosco, Partner, Patton Boggs LLP

To Mary Beth Bosco, her former career as a graphic designer and her current as Partner at Patton Boggs LLP aren’t as diametrically opposed as some would assume.

“I was working in New York designing book covers, where you’re given limited space to get your message across. It’s the same thing when writing a brief or giving an oral argument,” Bosco said.

After growing tired of the “starving artist route”, Bosco went to law school and clerked at a D.C. law firm where her focus was government contracts, an experience she cites as invaluable.

“So much of law school is theoretical and for me, it was important to learn by doing,” the partner said.

As partner at Patton Boggs, where Bosco has been since 1985, she counsels new and experienced government contractors on matters involving contract compliance and opportunities in the federal marketplace, drawing on more than 25 years of experience with both regulatory and litigation matters.

“The federal government buys everything from paperclips to battleships, which keeps my work very interesting because you’re always learning about a new industry,” Bosco laughed. “I love solving problems as they come up. It’s not my job to say, ‘No, you can’t do that.’ It’s my job to say, ‘This is how you can do it.’”

Diversity Leader

Bosco was the first female member of her firm’s Executive Committee, as well as the firm’s first Chief Diversity Partner. As the Chief Diversity Partner, Bosco is committed to starting over from scratch if that is what it takes to move the firm’s diversity goals forward. The partner is interested in driving diversity at the firm in real, tangible ways. This, she says, requires new innovations; something she’s calling “Diversity 2.0.”

“We want to recruit the best talent and if that requires pulling everything apart and starting over, that’s what we’ll do,” Bosco said.

Emerging Area

The Patton Boggs partner says cyber security is an emerging area of interest, both for her and others in her field. The recent data breach with Target in which cyber thieves hacked 40 million debit and credit card accounts and the names, home addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers of nearly 70 million people proved to be a rude awakening for many. Bosco says these types of breaches can be national security threats and they affect government contracts in unique ways.

“Any contract with the federal government has government information in a computer system and government contractors have a series of unique requirements many don’t know about. These breaches – or the threat of them – are an emerging area that has us thinking about safety in new and innovative ways,” Bosco said.

Critical Mass

The partner says that one of the biggest hurdles women experience when rising through the ranks of law firms is a lack of “critical mass” of women in leadership roles to look up to as role models.

“There are so many women graduating from law school, but the lack of women at the top continues to be framed as women wanting to spend time with their kids or start families. I think that’s an easy excuse,” Bosco said. “If women had other options, they wouldn’t leave in the first place. We need to start showing women that success can be achieved in various ways; it’s not just about bringing in clients, but doing great legal work.”

Learn to Stop

For young women that want to enter law, Bosco recommends they take a “long view” of things, making sure not to get swept up in the moment.

“At some point you may want to take time out to be with your family; that doesn’t mean you can’t return. Women get to partner in different ways, you just have to remember it’s a marathon, not a sprint,” she said

It may sound unusual, but another piece of advice Bosco likes to dispense is never cancel a hair appointment.

“Make time for yourself. Don’t cancel the hair appointment. Take that one hour to be alone with your thoughts,” Bosco said. “We now live in a world where the second you get an email, you feel obligated to respond right away, no matter what time it is or what you’re doing. Force yourself to stop. Think about what you’re saying. Be thoughtful in your actions and responses. You’ll thank yourself for it later.”

By Tina Vasquez